Sign a New Funding Letter, Free Webinar on Building Political Clout

Advocates Alert: June 20, 2011

We'd like to thank all the organizations that responded to last week's alert by signing the natural resources funding letter and forwarding it to partners. Land trusts comprise more than half of the 367 signers and your voice will help us fight unprecedented cuts to conservation programs in the ongoing debt limit negotiations.

Please Add Your Voice to another Conservation Funding Letter

As promised last week, today we're asking for your support on a second conservation funding letter. Circulated by a diverse steering committee of 24 organizations, this letter urges House and Senate leadership to avoid disproportionate cuts to wildlife conservation, outdoor recreation and historic preservation programs.

To sign the new letter, please reply to advocates@lta.org with your organization name and how many members you represent. You can also help by forwarding the letter to partner organizations and influential individuals in your community. The deadline is next Monday, June 27. (UPDATE: Deadline extended through Wednesday, June 28)

Do your public officials have a clear sense of what your land trust does? Do they follow through on their promises, or does it always seem like they have higher priorities?

Hosting a nonpartisan candidate forum can help to put your work on the top of their agenda. Candidate forums cause candidates to educate themselves on the issues important to your land trust and are an opportunity for you to build stronger relationships and create more access and accountability after they're elected.

On Thursday, June 23 at 2:00 pm Eastern, Nonprofit Vote will host a free webinar, where you'll hear more about tools and techniques for pulling off an effective candidate forum, and how to stay nonpartisan through the process. Click here to register.

We hope you'll also visit our Advocacy Tips page. It's full of guidance on how your land trust can legally participate in lobbying and voter engagement, along with tips for cultivating and effectively leveraging relationships with public officials.

Thanks for being an Advocate.

P.S. -- Don't forget to participate in tomorrow's free webinar on the Grassland Reserve Program. Please join the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts (PORT) and the Farmland Information Center on Tuesday, June 21 at 4:00 pm EDT for a review of the GRP final rule and program status. Click here to register.

Become an Advocate

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February 12: The House successfully voted 279-137, demonstrating a supermajority (67%) of support, on H.R. 644, a package of charitable incentives including the conservation tax incentive.Now we need your help in the Senate to secure co-sponsors! Sens. Heller and Stabenow have requested land trusts’ assistance in asking senators to cosponsor S. 330, the Conservation Easement Incentive Act.Learn more »